| MAY
15, 2000
On May 8th, we reported that Nissan Europe and Renault were
planning to combine their marketing and sales force. Today, more
details were announced.
Under the plan a system of dealer "hubs" will be
adopted in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain,
Switzerland and the UK. In the hubs, there will be two different
showrooms for each manufacturer but service and sales
back-office will be consolidated. Over 800 of these hubs are
planned. This and other cost saving measures are expected to add
one billion euros to profits over the next five years. There are
also talks about rebadging Nissan SUVs as Renault vehicles with
care to not confuse the brand identities with consumers.
The plan's other targeted goals are increased European market
share for Renault to 12% (currently 11.3%) and Nissan to 5%
(currently 2.9%).
|
| MAY
15, 2000
Nissan has had some excellent TV commercials as of late. Ones that come to our mind; the Maxima commercial with the machines stitching the leather seats and robots welding the car with a very
industrial-like soundtrack; Most recently the polo game with Pathfinders running
on top of a cliff; and of course the bit older but still well
done Xterra ad filled with active lifestyle - run up the hill with your bike, go kayaking, and first-aid kit
included with Lenny Kravitz blaring away in the background. Now
those are memorable commercials and kudos are due to TBWA/Chiat/Day
for the work.
Then this weekend, we ran across a new Xterra commercial that may be hitting the airwaves soon. The ad is a modern-day Cinderella analogy with the X as Cinderella’s stagecoach and Moby’s Porcelain as the soundtrack. The spot’s story line is typical. Girl shows up in Xterra, girl goes dancing until midnight, girl runs away only to find that the Xterra has turned into a pumpkin, guy slides into scene with his Xterra, and they both drive away happily ever after.
Staff members who saw the piece were surprised and quite critical of the
piece...some felt it was out of place with other Xterra ads.
Considering the image that Nissan wanted to initially portray with the Xterra, we ask if this new commercial is too soft and not edgy enough? But it could get those soccer moms into Nissan dealerships looking for good "to the mall and back home" transportation. Decide for yourself - see the new ad at
AdCritic.com.
|
| MAY
15, 2000
NML (Nissan Japan) recently announced an alliance with Japan
Telecom to implement a "next-generation information and
communications network that will be superior in terms of global
coverage, efficiency and reliability." This deal is part of
the Nissan Revival Program to increase efficiency and of course
save money. This alliance will spread across all continents
because of Japan Telecom's affiliation with AT&T and British
Telecom/Concert. We're wonder how this will effect NNA's
agreement (from late 1999) with IBM Global Services to provide
Information Technology solutions. At the time of the agreement,
NML and IBM were discussing ways to involve IBM on more of a
global scale. Does this latest maneuver side-step IBM? We're
looking into it.
|
| MAY
13, 2000
Nissan may not be the only company facing hurdles these days as
even high flying Honda is running into some issues. Honda said
it's total sales for the quarter topped $15 billion, surpassing
the same quarter last year by 1%, but that annual sale fell 2.1% to $57.4 billion. Operating
income fell 20% to $856 million for the quarter and 22% to $4 billion for the year.
Especially contributing to the problem is the strong yen to
dollar exchange rate.
However Honda has made significant improvement in sales with
North America boasting a 9.5% increase to 1.3 million units with
the new Acura TL and Odyssey while Accord sales have slowed
down.
|
| MAY
13, 2000
It's been a slow week for Nissan related news but we at the last
minute received some tips on the new 2002 Altima due in Fall
2001. To recap, the new Altima will be bigger and move
into the current larger Maxima size segment. It's been radically
redesigned and looks European and it will feature an all new
inline-4 as a standard engine with class leading power plus an
optional VQ series V-6 engine. Our insider tells us the code
name for the car is "TK" for Total Knockout. The big
surprise is that the controversial rear multi-link beam will not
be making an appearance on the car. Our source won't give us any
more information other than "you will be stunned when you
find out what the rear suspension will be."
|
| MAY
12, 2000
We were browsing the One Lap of America web site and noticed that the team of brothers Bob Donsbach and Doug Donsbach racing an Altima have placed second so far in their
class- "Mid-Price Sedans." We will try to get a hold of the two for a low down on their success so far.
|
| MAY
12, 2000
Nick from SpeedSport writes in with another update from the One
Lap of America racing event...
"The R33 GT-R's problems were solved in 15 hours at SpeedSport Inc.,
by myself and one of our technicians. We had the car towed back to Chicago,
from the middle of Ohio, to get the quickest help possible.
Our findings were that one of the turbos had seized, and that we
had other problems that related to a bad tank of 93 octane gas we had
purchased from Citgo in Ohio. This meant we had to use a set of HKS GT2540 turbos
that were not preprogrammed into the
HKS F-CON V FI system. This was very disconcerting, because it meant almost all fuel mapping was off by
a fair amount, which would cause the car to run very rich at first, then extremely
lean at higher rpms. We decided to run the car conservatively
for the rest of the events that we could make- which meant that we had to drive
all night on Tuesday to make it on time for Virginia International Raceway's
(VIR) two races, in Danville, VA, on Wednesday morning 800 miles away, a facility
the team had never been to either.
We arrived at VIR at 9am, in time for the first race, which saw us
running 42nd, which considering that the car couldn't help the driver
anymore, was where we expected to place.
In the afternoon, we ran the northern track, a higher speed 2.2
mile circuit, where we knew we would have problems, due to fuel mapping problems. We ended
up in 50th place, exactly in the middle, which we were very happy about.
However, we developed an unspecified problem with the powerplant
again and could not get the car rolling again from the pit area after we had
packed up and were ready to leave. It seems this theme had already run
itself once before, so we'll update you on our attempts to get the car up to
speed again
by Saturday's final events at GingerMan Raceway."
|
| MAY
9, 2000
The
Indy 500 is coming up this month and there's only one driver who
holds the flame for Nissan in the Indy Racing Northern Light
series (a.k.a. Indy Racing league). Fortunately that driver just
has happens be one of the world's best drivers - winning the
1998 Indy 500 and having other victories underneath his belt. We
interview Eddie Cheever Jr. about his life experiences, Infiniti
cars, and of course the upcoming race. Read
it here.
|
| MAY
9, 2000
Nissan
North America's new head executive, Norio Matsumura had a quick yet in-depth interview with
Automotive
News recently. In the interview he states that Nissan’s priorities are to "To stabilize the U.S. market, make money and sell more cars," and eventually sell
one million vehicles in America. He also talked about products
borne of the Nissan/Renault agreement, "The Z car will be the first model that truly
incorporates the spirit (of the relationship between the two
companies). You will be surprised at the power and the performance."
A lot is riding on the next Altima as well, with Matsumura stating that the Altima will be the one to change customers perception of Nissan. When asked what should Nissan be like in the next
ten years, Matsumura went back to the past, "We were leading-edge and bold. We did the first front-wheel-drive cars. We had the Z. We also had
small-volume models that fit the market. We must get back to that way of thinking."
|
| MAY
8, 2000
Renault
has confirmed that it and Nissan will announce the
reorganization of their European sales network. The announcement
should come sometime next week. Early reports from European
media speculate that the reorganization will amount to large
layoffs at both Nissan and Renault. Renault denied any large job
cuts. A British newspaper is reporting that the restructuring
could spell out a large reduction of dealer groups, a
reorganization of Nissan’s Euro headquarters in Amsterdam, and
cost reduction of 20% over the next three years. All of this
news caused Nissan's stock at the Tokyo stock exchange to reach
a record year high. Stay tuned to FA for continuing coverage.
|
| MAY
8, 2000
Nick
Wong from SpeedSport writes in with a second update on the R33
Skyline GT-R competing in the One Lap of America event...
"We ran at GingerMan Raceway once today, but were thwarted a
second set of runs due to a local quiet time law that disallowed
the track from having runs between 11am-12pm on Sundays. It
seems the local churches frown upon such activities on
Sundays... The R33 Skyline GT-R ran strongly at GingerMan,
netting my average driving skills 22nd overall place out of the
112 car field, and a sixth place standing in the GT-2
class.
Emmanuel Crouvisier's Supra netted 9th place overall, proving
that a well sorted car and a good driver can overcome a boost
controller that wasn't turned on... His father, J.M., netted
44th place in the Eclipse GSX. However, attrition was taking
it's toll, with many well known cars not making the trip to MIS
for the afternoon session. At MIS, my true lack of skill and
track knowledge almost got me killed. MIS is a high speed oval
with an infield circuit marked off by cones- the course goes
around a part of the oval, then drops into the circuit with a
corner that resembles a hairpin turn. The actual pace of the
oval section was well into the 7000rpm/fifth gear arena, a where
I have never gone before in a GT-R. Needless to say, I did not
start braking in time on the second lap (my confidence was
uncommonly high) and overshot the apex by an amount not
surmountable by the car, causing the GT-R to valiantly claw it's
way back onto the race line. I did not enjoy seeing a cement
wall "up close and personal." The times from that
event were similar to times achieved by the Scarpace Racing
Team's Corvette, but no results from that event were available.
I do not expect to hold my 22nd overall place for much longer
since we had a bigger problem appear not much later...
Stopping for a routine gas stop, we noticed the car emitting an
unusual amount of smoke from the tailpipe. After a significant
amount of diagnosis we determined that one of the ball bearing
turbos had seized, probably due to the unusual amount of
punishment it received from various sources, including the Pikes
Peak program. We feel that we can have this fixed in 48 hours,
but it will not bode well for our placing overall, but hopefully
be back on the track competing by Thursday at Nelson
Ledges.
Interestingly enough, we did not get any warning signs before
the turbocharger quit, so we are going to have this problem
diagnosed by a turbocharger manufacturer ASAP. I will update
everyone when I have further news of our (mis)adventures. Just
remember this phrase, "street cars cunningly disguised as
race cars..." said Brock Yates."
View the latest updates and ask questions
in our One Lap of
America forum.
|
| MAY
7, 2000
Nick
Wong from SpeedSport writes in with an update on the R33 Skyline
GT-R competing in the One Lap of America event...
"The GT-R, with four days of street driving under our belts,
qualified 26th out of 114 competitors. The Hennessey Venom 650
Viper qualified first. We were hoping for a upper bracket
finish, and achieved it. In fact, we were in the top 25% -
better than we had expected considering the lack of knowledge of
the car due to fact it was a last minute replacement, and the
technical, slow speed nature of GingerMan Raceway which did not
play to the Skyline's somewhat higher mass. FYI, I can do a
flying lap at this track in my Integra Type R @ 1.36.xx, but
with a standing start I managed a 1.43.xx. Technical aspects-
There was no high octane unleaded petrol available today, so we
ran on 93 octane at 1.2 bar boost. Our goal is to nurse the car
to Florida and back, and consistently run in the top 10 in our
class. Interestingly enough, we are still running in GT-2,
competing against Integra Type Rs, S2000s, Eclipse GSXs,
Mustangs, and RX-7s, since no-one has filed a complaint yet. The
tires were some what under inflated @32 psi, due to our absolute
unfamiliarity with the tire/wheel size. We are increasing tire
pressures to 35 psi for tomorrow. We also swapped our old brake
pads- dating from before last year's Pikes Peak Hillclimb, to
Japanese WinMax pads which will hopefully give us more initial bite on the stock
rotors. SpeedSport's other sponsored cars, a '94 Toyota Supra
turbo driven by Emmanuel Crouvisier and Reg Riemer, and a '95
Eclipse GSX driven J.M. Crouvisier and Guy Boulanger performed
admirably. Emmanuel finished 9th overall last year, as one of
only two amateurs in the top ten in a Caterham Super Seven. This
year he qualified in 9th place in the Supra, continuing his
streak of high placing."
     
|
| MAY
6, 2000
One
of Nissan's best sports cars will be competing in the Michelin/Car
& Driver's One Lap of America racing event. SpeedSport, a
private team along with a Motorex supplied white R33 Skyline GT-R
will be competing in this grueling series with 15 events in 8 different
cities and 110 competing cars over a period of seven days.
This R33 is the same car that won it's class at last year's
Pikes Peak race with the exception of a new boost controller, wheels, and an aftermarket suspension system.
Nick will be updating our community forum topic, One Lap of
America with results and news. We're crossing our fingers!
|
| MAY
6, 2000
A few weeks back,
we got some tips on the new 2002 Altima due in Fall 2001. Note
the total re-do is a year early (usually a 5 year cycle) and was
felt as needed by the brass at Nissan to showcase Nissan's
revival.
We weren't able to verify some of the info we received
immediately but this past week we've heard similar information.
So far we've heard from our sources that the car will have a very European flavor
with an almost
"Audi-esque" theme. Couple of things that stood out in our
dialogue; The car would be noticeably bigger than it is now and could cannibalize Maxima sales
because of the increased size. Also adding to the damage is the
fact that Altima in V-6 option will have nearly as much
horsepower as the current Maxima.
The new Altima standard inline-4 will be an all new TR25DE
engine. It will be the inline-4 equivalent of the V-6 VQ. The TR
engines will feature aluminum head and block with a balance
shaft, micro-finished crank and camshafts, and moly coated
pistons. Standard horsepower will be an inline-4 with well over
165 bhp - clearly trouncing the 4 cylinder Accord and Camry.
Also expect an SE-R version of the Sentra to be powered by a new
TR series engine
mated to a 6 speed manual and VLSD to debut next year.
|
| MAY
6, 2000
JD
Power and Associates are known for their "Quality"
standard awards. However they had some QC problems of their own
after releasing "2000 Initial Quality Study" and
figuring out they had miscalculated some winners (and losers).
Here's the Los
Angeles Times article regarding the JD Power mix up err..."reassessment"
of their findings.
In the end (for what it's worth), Nissan fared well. The
Pathfinder was the best Compact SUV Initial Quality award
winner. The I30 was second after a tie between the Lexus ES300
and Acura 3.2TL. The Maxima again was second after another tie
between Toyota siblings Avalon and Camry. And finally the QX4
was second after Lexus LX470 but beat out the Lexus RX300 which
came in 3rd place. What has been a glaring omission this and
last year was the absence of any mention of Nissan's manufacturing
plants (i.e. Smyrna, Tennessee, Opamma, Japan, and Sunderland,
UK) which have won other awards from various industry
publication and organizations. Maybe next year?
|
| MAY
4, 2000
As we promised here's more on the
Car and Driver June issue.
To recap, the Sentra is featured in a comparison of 13 economy sedans that includes the likes of the Civic,
Focus, Protégé, Echo, and of course Sentra. The Sentra fared
extremely well, racking up a second place seat, two points behind the Mazda Protégé.
The Sentra tested was a GXE (QG18DE - 1.8L) with manual
transmission. We got the feeling that C/D thinks that the Sentra is the most plush of the group even going as far
as to call it "the Buick of little cars." They praised it’s high refinement
and quality while noting the reported jitters it suffers at high speeds.
Also inside C/D were back-to-back reviews of the 2001 Pathfinder and
Infiniti QX4. While they like the new-found power of both, the fact that you could
get a Pathfinder for a few grand less, tainted their review of the QX4. They
sighted most of the VQ’s highlights in the Pathfinder review and noted
it’s problems in the QX4 write-up. But C/D did agree that both the Pathy and
QX4 are very capable SUV’s. There were a few good quotes to come out of
Pathfinder review. Tony Swan stated, "With one change, the Pathfinder
zips from the ranks of the mid-size also-rans to contention for best-in-class."
"The Pathfinder is one of the rare SUV’s in which I’d eagerly log a week
of 750-mile slogs," John Phillips said. Frank Markus had only two words,
"Vive Nissan!"
And perhaps the most surprising statement coming from the mainstream press, "With the 2001 Pathfinder and 2001
(sic - actually 2000) Sentra added to the current and competent, Maxima, Frontier, Xterra, and Altima, the company suddenly
has a potent lineup. Well done, Nissan."
| | MAY
3, 2000
The June issue
of Car and Driver has two features that will interest
Nissan enthusiasts. One is a comparison of the new Sentra
versus a slew of rival compacts...errr small cars. Here are the rankings as determined
by C&D; 13.) Kia Sephia, 12.) Daewoo Nubria, 10.) Toyota
Echo [tie], 10.) Suzuki Esteem [tie], 9.) Saturn SL2, 8.)
Mitsubishi Mirage, 7.) Chevy Prizm 6.) Hyundai Elantra 5.)
Dodge Neon, 4.) Honda Civic, 3.) Ford Focus, 2.) Nissan Sentra
GXE, 1.) Mazda Protege. Our biggest surprise? It was how
low the Toyota Echo placed. The Protege has always been one of
C/D's favorite small cars, so that we could see
that one coming.
Also inside the magazine is a review of the 2001 Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4. The
reviewer (as you may have guessed) was especially impressed
with the newly found smoothness and power due to the new VQ35DE
engine.
We'll have more on C/D's impressions of all three
Nissans tomorrow.
|
| MAY
3, 2000
If you haven't
ran across it yet, we're excited to bring you an in-depth
interview with Nissan North America's Motorsports manager, Frank
Honsowetz. In the interview, he gives insight to some of
the thinking behind Nissan's motorsports decisions and
addresses the possibility of any expansion of the performance "aftermarket" parts department within Nissan.
Read
here.
|
| MAY
3, 2000
Nissan North America has just released it's April sales figures which
again point to the success of it's new vehicle line up. A
total of 54,773 units were moved - an increase of 31.8% versus
last year.
The new Sentra accounted for 6,401 sales (an increase of 51%
from the previous month). It's sedan siblings the Maxima
posted sales of 9,822 units (6.4 % increase versus last year),
while Altima sales were at 12,491 units (slightly down from
last month).
Impressive improvements in the truck segment were also
realized with Frontier sales of 9,144 units (a 63.9% increase
versus last year) and Pathfinder with sales of 5,874 units, an
increase of 53.1% versus last year and a record for the month
of April. Unfortunately figures for the Xterra and Quest weren't
included in the press release. We're researching the numbers
right now.
The Infiniti division also saw impressive gains with 6,305
units moved. The I30 saw 2,935 units sold (an increase of
82.7% over last year). The QX4 also saw strong sales with
1,930 units ( an increase of 105.2% versus last year). The Q45
flagship had total sales of 403 units, while the G20 posted
sales of 1,036 units.
(Revised 9:00am PST)
| | APRIL
30, 2000
 
It's been a hectic weekend for us at FreshAlloy.com. We were lucky enough to
have the opportunity to pay a visit to Nissan Design
International in La Jolla, California. NDI's lobby is a
virtual museum with the 1999 Z concept, the SUT, the New
Concept Sedan (a hybrid a la PT Cruiser), and various
non-automotive projects on display. Our gracious host enthusiastically explained the
various studios and processes involved in bringing a car to
fruition. We saw a lot of upcoming
projects on the wall but unfortunately not in detail as you
can imagine why. We have begun work on a mini virtual tour of
the NDI facilities which will soon be online. Stay tuned for
that.
If you are a Nissan enthusiast in Southern California, then
you had a lot of to see this Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday,
well known Nissan tuner Stillen in Costa Mesa had an open
house with many Nissan drivers showcasing their cars. Many
modified Z cars, Maximas, and even a few Toyota Supras were
lined up on the closed street for the event.
Then on Sunday, we trekked a few miles up north to Orange,
where Motorsport Auto hosted the Z West Coast Nationals show.
There were hundreds of Z cars from original 240Zs to the
latest tricked out 300ZXs lined up along an entire city block.
Nissan themselves had a mini show room with the usual Maxima,
Sentra, Pathfinder, and a red R34 Skyline GT-R V-Spec. Uhhhh
wait, the R34? Okay, it's not going on sale through Nissan
North America but it was an engineering department
"test" unit. We were treated to a ride and drive but
due to public streets we weren't able to push the car. We
walked away very impressed with the R34's capabilities at what
we thought was a 2/10th pace. We'll have some pictures of the
show posted soon.
| | APRIL
26, 2000
One of our readers report during the New York Auto Show, an
Infiniti rep hinted that when the new Q45 Touring is
released it could possibly have more than just a sportier
suspension. What else is there but power? How about more
aggressive tuning of the engine yielding as much 30-40 bhp. It
gets easier to extract more horses when you've got a lot of
cubic inches to play with - in this case approximately 274
cubic inches or 4.5 liters of it.
| | APRIL
26, 2000
We will have an interesting interview with Frank Honsowetz,
Nissan/Infiniti Motorsports Manger posted soon. The interview
covers a wide range of issues including Infiniti Indy, grass
roots motorsports support, and Nissan's aftermarket parts
operation. Here's an excerpt...
FA: Nissan recently announced its intentions to sell one
million vehicles in the United States within a few years. Do
you foresee a need to expand Nissan Motorsport's
"aftermarket" parts operation as a result of
increased vehicle sales?
Honsowetz: The expansion of the department would not be my
decision. It is interesting that the volume of sales for the
motorsports department is not directly linked to the annual
volume of vehicle sales for a particular calendar year. It
actually is almost the same volume year after year and it has
been that way for as long as I have been there...(more).
|
| APRIL
26, 2000
The AP is reporting a slew of maneuvers by Renault to
further develop it's international prospects. First, Samsung's
creditors have approved Renault's $562 million buyout of
Samsung Motors. Renault will own 70% of the company and
thus controlling interest. This will give Renault access
to the historically inaccessible South Korean market; where
last year only 2,401 foreign made vehicles were sold.
Also being reported is Renault's sale of its RVI truck making
unit (including US based Mack Trucks) to AB Volvo (now
unrelated to Volvo cars). Analysts view this as an effort to
concentrate on cars and turning around Nissan and Samsung.
Finally, Renault will set up a wholly owned subsidiary in
Japan in a bid to aggressively market and sell it's car into
the Japan. As expected Nissan will lend assistance in
infrastructure development through it's dealership network and
logistic operations. Renault hopes to increase Japanese market
sales to 15,000 vehicles by 2004 up from 3,000 units in 1999.
| | APRIL
25, 2000
We've received some more details about the new 2002 Q45. Let's
start off with the engine; it will be the first engine in the
new ZH series and it will reside in the Q as the
world's first application - signifying North America's renewed
importance. (Remember the VQ35DE in the 2001 Pathfinder/QX4 is
also a world's first.) The Q will also come standard with
Nissan's well developed viscous limited slip differential
supplementing vehicle dynamic control, traction control, and
ABS during inclement weather conditions. And finally a
slightly more sporty suspension tuned "Touring"
version is likely according to our source. As to a rumored
"High Output" 400 bhp version, our source indicates
there are no plans right now for it.
|
| APRIL
25, 2000
Remember the Tino
Hybrid? Well, Nissan Japan sold it's limited run of 100
units in one day after being offered on sale on the Internet
for approximately $30,000 USD. Nissan is unsure whether more
units will be offered this initial run as most analysts
estimate the car costs more to make than it is sold for.
Nissan joins rivals Toyota and Honda in offering the world's
first gasoline/electric hybrid engines. Both though have surpassed
Nissan's Tino sales easily; Toyota began selling the Prius in
Japan in Dec. 1997 and measured sales of 35,581 units through
Feb. 2000. Honda in Japan has sold a total of 819 units by
March, falling short of its monthly sales target of 300 units.
In the US, Honda has sold 414 units since it's arrival in
December and it expects to sell 6,500 Insights this year, up
63% from an initial estimate.
|
| APRIL
25, 2000
According to the AP, after months of negotiations Renault will
purchase Samsung Motors for a reported $550 million dollars -
revised from an initial offer of $450 million. Samsung Motors
has been reported to have $4 billion in debt and $3 billion in
assets. Part of the Samsung conglomerate, the South Korean
automaker has licensed key Nissan technologies in
manufacturing and a car platform based on the Cefiro/Maxima.
|
| APRIL
23, 2000
The last Indy Racing League race before the Indianapolis 500
was held yesterday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Unfortunately due to some electrical problems, Infiniti's only
team with Eddie Cheever Jr. finished eleventh place. Cheever,
the 1998 Indianapolis 500 Champion, had been running in second
place behind Mark Dismore when he was forced to pit to replace
the electronics boxes on his Infiniti-powered
Excite@Home-sponsored Dallara.
Cheever said, "The #51 Excite@Home Indy Race Car was the
best car out there today." He added, "I was just
waiting for (then leader) Mark Dismore to make a mistake - I
was right on his gearbox - when we had a problem with the
electronics. It's a real shame because the Infiniti Indy
engine was very strong and our Firestone tires were
exceptional..."
| | APRIL
20, 2000
The reaction to the new Q45 has been an almost love or hate
situation. Just about everyone agrees the new V-8 engine
sounds like a blast and love the interior.
We've prepared an index of the new Q's features and
technologies in our 2002 Q45 Preview. It's some of our
best graphics design and layout work to date inspired by the
new thinking of the Q.
| | APRIL
19, 2000
New York provided the perfect back-drop for the new jam-packed Infiniti Q45.
After being panned again and again in the media for the Q's bland looks
and minimal features, Infiniti is striking back with an all-new car, all-new
interior, and all-new engine.
As reported first here on FA, the Q45 will sport and all-new 4.5L
VQ derived V-8. This thing pumps out 340 bhp and 333ft-lbs of torque. It's mated to a
5-speed manumatic style transmission with an estimated 0-60 time of 5.9
seconds!
Engine features include: variable valve timing, titanium valves, light-weight pistons, torque demand powertrain control, variable intake
system, and dual mode variable capacity muffler.
We were disappointed by preliminary shots first released to the media
a few days ago. But after seeing the whole thing, FA is both shocked and drooling
over the car's new-found style. The car sports a totally new
interior and an arsenal of new technologies and features.
Visit our new 2002 Q45 Preview.
     
| | APRIL
19, 2000
It's
a few more hours until the new Q is revealed at the New York
Auto Show. However there is a major announcement that Reuters
and others are reporting;
Nissan COO Carlos Ghosn announced that Nissan will indeed develop a full-size truck for North America. He stated that the truck will have an
all new V-8 engine and be ready in 2003.
As expected, he also announced that ten new products are in development and
destined for the American market. He commented, "Twenty-two all-new products, not counting variations or derivatives,
are in the development pipeline worldwide now. Ten of them, including the new
big truck, are destined for the United States."
Goshn also said that Nissan will increase production during the first half
of the new fiscal year by about 9 %. That equals about 106,000 cars.
Most of those cars will be more trucks in Smyrna, Sentra cars in Mexico, and the
Almera & Tino cars in Europe. He also stated that Nissan is progressing with
it’s plans to generate a profit for the 2000 fiscal year. "Our primary target
is clear, we must show a net profit in this fiscal year," Ghosn said. "We
are on track to hit our targets."
| | APRIL
18, 2000
On
the eve of the introduction of the new 2002 Q45, we are lucky
to have two talented artists submit their renditions of what
the new Q could look like. Neil Hayes is a frequent
contributor within our community forums. Robert Ledesma's work with
his Z car sketches have been featured on various web sites
including our site. Thanks to both for their contributions.
 
| | APRIL
18, 2000
The New York Auto Show is turning out to be a big event for Nissan. First
off will be the debut of the 2002 Q45. Then Infiniti is expected to give us
more insight into the future of the XVL concept. Carlos Ghosn will be on
hand to reveal some future products for the North American market.
He is expected to announce that 10 new vehicles will be headed to our
shores. A few possibilities include a full-size truck, and the SUT concept.
When asked about the SUT, Ghosn would only say, "You're about one or two
days ahead of what we have to announce." One product that won’t be coming
across the pond to the US according to Goshn, is the Avantime, an outlandish Renault
hybrid minivan/sports GT concept.
And on the family vehicle front, Ghosn said that the next Quest
will be specifically designedfor the American market and won’t be an adaptation
of a Japan-market or Renault product. So there’s only one more days left,
but we can't wait!
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